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Lawmakers Hear Urgent Appeals to Clear Care for Kids Wait List; Debate Limits on Endowment Funding for Private‑Equity Centers
Summary
Providers, parents and advocates urged the Committee on Children to fund $70 million to eliminate the Care for Kids waiting list and to direct $5 million to Eastern Connecticut providers, while sponsors of SB266 and opponents debated guardrails that would deprioritize private‑equity‑owned centers for endowment dollars.
Lawmakers heard more than four hours of testimony on Wednesday about a long-running child‑care crisis in Connecticut and competing proposals to both shore up an emergency subsidy program and prevent public funds from flowing to investors.
Supporters of SB 265 told the Committee on Children the state should appropriate $65–70 million to clear a managed wait list that currently leaves thousands of families waiting months for a Care for Kids subsidy. “When Care for Kids has a wait list, it is not an abstract policy issue,” said Alex Givony, CEO of Friends Center for Children. “It means a parent delaying a return to work. It means a child missing out on consistent high quality early learning.”
Providers described empty classrooms they cannot fill because eligible families remain…
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